Below 100 Intensive (New Kent)

BELOW 100: A FREE TRAINING PROGRAM TO SAVE LAW ENFORCEMENT LIVES

Presented by the Virginia Association of Chiefs of Police in partnership with the Virginia Highway Safety Office.

Hosted by New Kent County Sheriff's Office.

In 1974, the all-time high year for officer deaths, 278 were killed in the line of duty. Innovations in training, emergency medicine and vehicles, as well as the development of ballistic armor, all contributed to bring this number down. We’ve averaged about 150 officers killed per year in the last ten years. Together, we can bring that number to below 100.

Five key tenets have been identified by which we can improve officer safety — areas where we can make a difference:

1. Wear Your Belt. The reality: Every day, police around the country make excuses why they don't wear seatbelts. Every day, peers and supervisors make excuses why they turn a blind eye to this behavior. Every year, officers are killed and injured as a result of these excuses.
2. Wear Your Vest. The reality: Officers often make excuses why they don't wear their body armor. These excuses have led to hundreds of deaths and injuries. And there is another type of vest that can be equally important: the reflective vest. Every day officers make excuses why they don't use their reflective gear. Body armor and reflective gear work, but only if they are worn.
3. Watch Your Speed. Old joke: "Why do cops speed? Because they can." But this just isn't funny anymore. As speed goes up, survival goes down. Every year hundreds of officers and innocent citizens are killed or seriously injured as a result of unwarranted speed. It's time to hold each other accountable.
4. WIN — What's Important Now? WIN is about situational awareness and continually reassessing the priority. Focusing on the task at hand improves officer safety. What's important now is for officers to understand that taking unnecessary risk puts the crosshairs squarely on those they care the most – their families. WIN is a mindset that saves lives and prevents needless tragedies.
5. Remember: Complacency Kills! Complacency is among the deadliest and most insidious of all threats faced by law enforcement officers because it can make even the most routine task incredibly dangerous. Becoming complacent or overlooking complacent conduct by others results in the death or serious injury of hundreds of officers each year. Every officer, trainer and supervisor must strive to remain vigilant and to remember that ignored behavior is condoned behavior.

Below 100 is about each and every officer, trainer and supervisor taking individual and collective responsibility for the decisions and actions that contribute to safety. For those in a leadership position, Below 100 means supporting a culture of safety throughout your department so that it becomes the norm and not the exception. Below 100 is committed to providing you the tools and resources you need to make a culture of safety thrive throughout your department.

Finally, Below 100 is a challenge that recognizes each officer death as a tragedy. It’s our duty to face down death and protect the innocent when called to do so. It’s a fact: Good cops will die each year. But working together—and only by working together—we can keep our streets and ourselves safer.

ABOUT THE TRAININGS
Below 100 works because it is a common-sense approach to officer safety. The core course - Below 100 Intensive - is open to all levels of law enforcement. By the end of the Intensive class, students will be aware of the safety issues of not wearing an armored vest, not wearing a safety vest, not wearing a safety belt, being complacent, speeding, and not using good decision making skills.

TRAINERS
Virginia Highway Safety Office Law Enforcement Liaisons Paul Sleeper & Michael Timm will conduct the training.

DCJS CREDIT
We are pursuing approval by DCJS for partial in-service credit (4 hours).

DATE & TIMES
Thursday, February 16, 2017

0800 - 1200: Below 100 Intensive

COST
FREE!!!

LOCATION
New Kent County Sheriff's Office
11995 Courthouse Cir.
New Kent, VA 23124

QUESTIONS?
Contact Erin Schrad, VACP Communications Manager, at erin@vachiefs.org; phone – (804) 285-8227.